TDS non-compliance and landlord's solicitors, help appreciated!

[Cynic]

Hello all.

 

I've been a lurker here for some time and have used the excellent advice found on these boards for a variety of situations. However I now find myself stumped as to how to proceed!

 

I took on a tenancy on the 7th February 2008, paying the first month's rent and deposit in cash to the letting agent. I received no receipt for this (not unusual to me, I had been out of the renting game for a long time and had never had a receipt before so did not expect one). The letting agent went bust in July/August. The new agency that took over the tenancy were adamant that the landlady was a "lovely lady who was going to pay my deposit back out of her own bank account". The deposit was never protected, and I have written confirmation from all three schemes.

 

I moved out of the property on the 7th March 2009. The letting agent asked for final bills, which I sent, they then returned them saying that they were not final enough etc. A lengthy farce ensued, culminating in me getting utterly fed up of their delaying tactics and sending off the recommended letter before action found on the Shelter website (after sending a polite general "please give me back my deposit as you said you would" letter and receiving the response that they did not hold my deposit >_>). I have completed court form N208 using the recommended wording on this site, and had full intent to submit it even though I was hoping it would not come to that (as I would have to borrow yet more money for the court fees).

 

I sent the LBA on the 8th of April, and was going to give 7 working days for return of my deposit owing to the bank holiday. I asked for £900 to be returned to me (considering the non-compliance, delay and inconvenience, not to mention financial difficulty that this has and indeed continues to cause me), but did not explicitly state that this was a sum acceptable in settlement to prevent court action. Perhaps that would have been advisable.

 

However I today received a letter from a solicitor on the landlady's behalf:

 

"Dear Cynic,

 

I have been consulted by Mrs. Landlady in relation to your letter of the 7th April 2009.

 

I was initially approached by Mrs. Landlady in September 2008. It transpired that your rental payments made to Bust Letting Agent had not been passed on to Mrs. Landlady therefore Mrs. Landlady was left in a situation where she did not recover any rent for a 3 month period. I did make enquiries of Bust Letting Agent in an attempt to recover these outstanding monies. Unfortunately my attempt was not successful and I understand that Bust Letting Agent is no longer trading and at that time the company seemed to be in serious financial difficulty.

 

Having received your letter of the 7th April 2009 I am now aware of the predicament in which you find yourself in relation to the deposit you paid to Bust Letting Agent. Mrs. Landlady would like to assist as best she can in relation to this and I therefore kindly request certain further information from you so that I can ascertain whether or not your deposit was protected as it should have been by the Agents.

 

In the circumstances I would be grateful if you could please let me have a copy of your deposit receipt and any contract you have with Bust Letting Agent. As you will appreciate the deposit was not passed to Mrs. Landlady. Mrs. Landlady's understanding however is that the deposit should have been in the sum of £450 i.e. one months (sic) rent. Bust Letting Agent thereafter should have deposited the deposit in accordance with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme within 14 days and should have contacted you with certain specific information including the contact details for the TDA they had used...

 

...I request at this stage that pending these further investigations that commencement of any Court action is put on hold. In this respect I reserve the right to produce a copy of this letter to the Court should premature proceedings be issued."

 

 

So, intrepid and knowledgeable citizens of the CAG, where on earth do I go from here? I can't see why this solicitor needs any of the above other than as a delaying tactic, as everyone seems determined not to take responsibility for returning my money.

If I were to submit N208 to the court, would this letter have any bearing? Do I need to provide my tenancy agreement etc to this solicitor who apparently didn't even chase to get money back for Mrs. Landlady from Bust Letting Agent? Surely it is obvious that the deposit has not been protected, and the onus should not be on me to provide proof of this.

 

I am concerned that with the way things are going I am going to get a letter telling me that my deposit has magically been protected, and regardless of it being after the tenancy has ended the law seems to want to pat landlords on the head for such revisionism.

 

Phew, if you have managed to wade through all that, I salute you!

Edited April 17, 2009 by Cynic

[CarrieYuan]

I am not legally qualified. Here are some opinion. Since the previous company you paid the deposit went bust, it is not to me a clear cut whether the current company should be held down for the mistake of the non-compliance of deposit. (It may be forcable, as part of their liability of succeeding the bust company).

 

As you said, you are kind of in financial difficulty. Going through a relatively expensive legal battle with uncertainty is the last thing you want to do. I would suggest to call Shelter or CAG first to clear the points. They at least can give you some pointers.

[Steve__M]

Ultimately, the landlady is responsible. But a judge may see a way of letting the landlady avoid this responsibility in a court if he feels kindly toward her, particularly if the deposit is indeed protected, or if you can't produce a receipt of any kind.

 

I don't think you said what your deposit is, I'm assuming it is £450. Possibly you should be prepared to accept just that???

 

I'd avoid the issue of the receipt with a curt letter and a sob story of your own. Eg.

 

Dear agent,

 

As you will be aware, I cannot be held responsible for the behaviour of the agent that the landlady employed. Further, you should be aware that it is the landlady's responsibility to ensure that the deposit was appropriately protected. I can assure you it has not been.

 

I would have been happy to have settled for prompt return of my deposit. Failure on your part to do so has left me in some considerable hardship.

 

Therefore, I will be continuing with my action if [put your demands here] within 14 days.